Threnody

Chapter 1: A dark night

The communicator in his ear gave off a row of disturbed radio wave sounds as he tried to get onto the correct channel. This was always a problem when they were sent in to do a mission so suddenly. It was almost a guarantee that something wouldn't go right, which had also ended up being the case. His eyes were fixed on the screen in front of him and he used his free hand to type on the keyboard. Several different tabs were open all over the screen, and he made sure to keep a close eye on the two security cameras he was following. A figure dressed in dark clothes appear on one of them, his gloved hand tugging impatiently at the handle to a locked door. He sighed, already knowing he was in for a lecture as soon as he found the right channel.

"For fucks sake, answer me already!!" He flinched ever so slightly as he heard the screaming.

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine today...." Zeldris offered, pressing the spacebar as he watched the door on the camera blink green. He could hear grumbling curses on the other end before the person quickly disappeared into the dark building. With the press of another button he switched security camera again, now watching the intruder from the inside. The halls were empty of people, save for the one person he had let in. Through the bad quality camera, the walls of the interior appeared to have grey walls, decorated with several surely expensive and unique paintings here and there. Rich people had awful taste.

"What took you so damn long?" the voice hissed to him, glaring up at the wrong camera where he stood. He could see the vague contour of dirty footprints railing behind him over the floor, which seemed to be made up completely by a redish-looking carpet.

"Technical difficulties....." he excused it, looking at the map of the building currently displayed before him. "The stairs should be to your left, then take the third door to the right."

"Don't tell me that their firewall actually proved to be a challenge to you, little bird." Zeldris let out a disapproving growl at the nickname.

"No, I had some problems with my communicator is all. They didn't even have that good of a firewall to start with, barely took me five minutes to get in." He couldn't help but smirk to himself at the reminder of his special talent for hacking. The figure on the screen was following his directions, disappearing down a dark staircase a few meters to his left. As he had expected, they were just as overly decorated as the first room had been, the red carpeted floor continuing down the steps. He pressed another key so that he was able to follow the man with the cameras. Even the halls he was walking through now looked like a interior decoration magazine had exploded in it. Couches, drawers, tables and other furniture placed everywhere in what looks like mindless chaos. In his opinion, it made the whole place feel even more cramped and tiny than it already was.

"Excuses excuses..... I suppose you're going to blame me for the communicator problems, aren't you?" Zeldris pursed his lips as another camera further ahead suddenly gave him an alert.

"Two security guards ten meters ahead," he warned, squinting at the screen as he tried to see if there was anything he could do to to prevent a fight that could possibly draw attention to their little break in. "And yes, it's your fault. You were supposed to calibrate and double check all the equipment before we left headquarters."

"Woops...?"

"Moron.... Stay put, I'll see if I can send them on a different route..." he muttered, his fingers tapping restlessly over the black keys as he scrolled through the security system, which contained all the schedules and orders the guards received. The shadowy figure had disappeared out of sight for the cameras, presumably waiting for Zeldris to fix away the guards. It was a basic stealth mission rule to avoid interactions with anyone but the target for as long as possible. Confrontation of guards and henchmen were only acceptable if there was no other way out.